Most Fish & Chip Shops Not The Same Anymore ?

[ab6262]

Anyone else struggle to find proper English fish & Chips anymore?, not many traditional ones left, most seem to have been taken over by the Kebab brigade, serving pizzas, kebabs  etc and poor fish and chips usually pre battered and frozen, i went into what was once a very traditional chippy friday lunchtime at gleadless townend next to what was viva tequila (now something else) you used to have to queue to get served here at lunchtime? same at Darnall fisheries, not now!! empty with a sad looking counter with nothing in except 2 scrawny bits of fish, i took one piece as no time to go elsewhere, horrible dry frozen fish thick uncooked batter? 

why can the people that take over not continue the traditional way beef dripping to cook in, fresh fish  and real potatoes ?

[YorkieontheTyne]

I think you’ve answered your own question there ab6262. When they diversify from the core items it’s spreads quality very thinly. A good chippy concentrating on just fish and chips, and derivatives thereof, with perhaps pies in a hot cabinet is head and shoulders above the burgers, kebab, pizza boys. Cooking fish and chips properly is an art, requiring an experienced fryer who knows what he’s doing.

Incidentally near where I used to live a new takeaway opened doing around 30 types of pizza, numerous burgers and kebabs etc and also fish and chips, all available on one of the delivery apps. If they got an order for fish and chips, or someone came into the shop wanting fish and chips then one of the staff nipped out the back door and went down the road to the traditional chippy and got the fish and chips from there! Eventually the chippy twigged what was happening and put the block on selling to the newbies.

[Axe]

To be fair there is that much competition from other takeaways nowadays that what were once traditional fish and chips shops have had to turned into a jack of all trades and master of none food outlet in order to make their businesses viable.  Fish has also become much more expensive over the last 30 or 40.  Also most Fish and Chips nowadays are not run by British people.  

[ab6262]

6 minutes ago, Axe said:

To be fair there is that much competition from other takeaways nowadays that what were once traditional fish and chips shops have had to turned into a jack of all trades and master of none food outlet in order to make their businesses viable.  Fish has also become much more expensive over the last 30 or 40.  Also most Fish and Chips nowadays are not run by British people.  

and therin lies the problem they dont understand the british tastes and trying to capture the whole market which as you said dilutes the quality.

as for fish being expensive well blame the EU for that.

 

[iansheff]

Tony's at Mosborough, a normal chippy no kebabs or pizzas etc, just good quality fish and chips.

[aardvark6535]

Proper English fish & Chips is too hard to make, for most people to bother with nowadays, as a young lad I had a Saturday job working in our local Fish and Chip shop, and it was hard work. We got there 2 hours before it opened to prepare the shop. First job, wash a couple of sacks of potatoes, then throw the said washed potatoes into the Rumbler (Peeler) - these unloaded into a large bucket of water, where we sat picking up each potato and cutting any blemishes off and taking the "Eyes" out before throwing them into another bucket of water. So we now have pristine looking potatoes without a mark on them, we then throw these into the "Chipper" to fall effortlessly into several smaller buckets of water. Probably the worse job was making the batter, mixing it by hand with a whisk around 18–20 inches long (45–50 Cm).

Just two of the jobs that had to be done before the shop opened. Nowadays, I'm not sure if they even wash the potatoes before putting them in the Chipper, (you may say chips with their skins on is healthier, but I call it lazy), that's If they don't buy in the potatoes ready chipped.

I don't mind diversification as such, but if making Pizza lowers the quality of the Fish and Chips or vice versa, then you have a problem. People would rather have one Good meal, than two mediocre offerings, and If a F & Chip shops uses McD type chips you can forget it, you know it's going to be bad.

 

Order summary
Order number: 254466370
Haddock     7.99
Chips             3.20
Subtotal     11.19
Delivery fee     1.75
Service charge 10% (min £0.99 max £2.49)     1.11
Total paid by VISA
£14.05

 

It's not a cheap meal any more, either.

[Annie Bynnol]

     Compulsory Friday or Saturday tea time visits have died down because of choice and cost.

     Post pub visits 

[cressida]

37 minutes ago, ab6262 said:

and therin lies the problem they dont understand the british tastes and trying to capture the whole market which as you said dilutes the quality.

as for fish being expensive well blame the EU for that.

 

The chips - half the portion being full of pointy chips,  I've been having fish,  peas and onion rings instead.

[Mister M]

2 hours ago, ab6262 said:

Anyone else struggle to find proper English fish & Chips anymore?, not many traditional ones left, most seem to have been taken over by the Kebab brigade, serving pizzas, kebabs  etc and poor fish and chips usually pre battered and frozen, i went into what was once a very traditional chippy friday lunchtime at gleadless townend next to what was viva tequila (now something else) you used to have to queue to get served here at lunchtime? same at Darnall fisheries, not now!! empty with a sad looking counter with nothing in except 2 scrawny bits of fish, i took one piece as no time to go elsewhere, horrible dry frozen fish thick uncooked batter? 

why can the people that take over not continue the traditional way beef dripping to cook in, fresh fish  and real potatoes ?

What Would Gordon Gecko Do?

 

Spot a gap in the market and open a traditional fish & chip shop.

[Annie Bynnol]

     Compulsory Friday or Saturday tea time visits have died down because of choice and cost.

     Post pub visits impossible as pubs open later.

    

     Fish and chips is a Belgian/London invention from the 1920's taken up by seaside towns especially Lancashire and Lincolnshire often attracting foreign born owners, Spread to Lancashire women mill workers and then war workers and post war women workers.  Available in many forms without rationing in the 40s and 50s.

     A key element in Government policy for a better fed nation and in enabling women to work and provide food on the table.